What is one thing that you can do to uphold the best kitchen practices involving proper food storage?

Guidance on what you and your staff must do when handling food.

Last updated: 11 December 2018

To keep food safe, every person working in a food-handling area must maintain a high level of personal hygiene.

They must wear clothing that is:

• suitable
• clean
• protective

When preparing or handling food they should:

• keep hair tied back and wear a suitable head covering, e.g. hat or hair net
• not wear watches or jewellery (except a wedding band)
• not touch their face and hair, smoke, spit, sneeze, eat or chew gum

Handwashing

Effective handwashing is extremely important to help prevent harmful bacteria from spreading from peoples’ hands. All staff that work with food must wash their hands:

• when in the kitchen or preparation area
• before preparing food
• after touching raw food
• after handling food waste or emptying a bin
• after cleaning
• after blowing their nose
• after touching phones, light switches, door handles and cash registers

Staff should dry their hands on a disposable towel. This is because harmful bacteria can spread on wet or damp hands. Use a disposable towel to turn off the tap.

Food safety coaching videos – Handwashing

How to wash your hands to stop bacteria from spreading.

Fitness for work

You must not allow anyone to handle food or enter a food handling area if they:

• are suffering from or carrying a disease likely to be transmitted through food
• have infected wounds, skin infections or sores
• have diarrhoea

If any of these apply to a member of staff, they must tell their manager about it immediately.

Staff with diarrhoea or vomiting should not return to work until they have had no symptoms for 48 hours.

The guidance below applies to all UK food business operators other than primary producers, such as farmers and growers.

Food safety coaching videos – Staff illness

What to do if a member of staff is ill at work and how long they should stay at home.

Following four simple steps at home—Clean, Separate, Cook, and Chill—can help protect you and your loved ones from food poisoning.

Clean: Wash your hands and surfaces often.

• Germs that cause food poisoning can survive in many places and spread around your kitchen.
• Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating.
• Wash your utensils, cutting boards, and countertops with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item.
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water.

• Raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat foods—unless you keep them separate.
  • Use separate cutting boards and plates for raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
  • When grocery shopping, keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and their juices away from other foods.
  • Keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from all other foods in the refrigerator.

• Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature gets high enough to kill germs that can make you sick. The only way to tell if food is safely cooked is to use a food thermometer. You can’t tell if food is safely cooked by checking its color and texture (except for seafood).
• Use a food thermometer to ensure foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature. Check this chart for a detailed list of temperatures and foods, including shellfish and precooked hamexternal icon.
  • Whole cuts of beef, veal, lamb, and pork, including fresh ham (raw): 145°F (then allow the meat to rest for 3 minutes before carving or eating)
  • Fish with fins: 145°F or cook until flesh is opaque
  • Ground meats, such as beef and pork: 160°F
  • All poultry, including ground chicken and turkey: 165°F
  • Leftovers and casseroles: 165°F
  • Microwave food thoroughly:
    • Know your microwave’s wattage. Check inside the door, owner’s manual, or manufacturer’s website. Lower wattageexternal icon means longer cooking time.
    • Follow recommended cooking and standing times, to allow for additional cooking after microwaving stops. Letting food sit for a few minutes after microwaving allows cold spots to absorb heat from hotter areas and cook more completely.
    • When reheating, use a food thermometer to make sure that microwaved food reaches 165°F.

Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the “Danger Zone” between 40°F and 140°F.

• Keep your refrigerator at 40°F or below, your freezer at 0˚F or below, and know when to throw food outexternal icon.
• Divide warm foods into several clean, shallow containers so they will chill faster.
• Refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours. If the food is exposed to temperatures above 90°F (like a hot car or picnic), refrigerate it within 1 hour.
• Thaw frozen food safely in the refrigerator, in cold waterexternal icon, or in the microwave. Never thaw foods on the counter because bacteria multiply quickly in the parts of the food that reach room temperature.

Bacteria can multiply rapidly if left at room temperature or in the “Danger Zone” between 40°F and 140°F. Never leave perishable food out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour if exposed to temperatures above 90°F).

2.How many of the amino acids we need from protein are essential, which means our bodies cannot produce them naturally?

20

8

15

3

3.Each week, over 100,000 people manage to hurt themselves (or someone else) through the accidental mishandling of fire, knives, electrical appliances, chemicals, and poor sanitation in food.

True

False

4.The kitchen itself holds all sorts of dangers, big and small, with one of the most obvious being what?

physical assault

poisoning

accidents

poor sanitation

5.Slicing like a pro means using two hands, one on the knife and one on the food.

True

False

6.What is one thing that you can do to uphold the best kitchen practices involving proper food storage?

sanitize food surfaces

clean cooking equipment

label food properly

recycle

7.What type of cuisine is a deep-dish pizza from Chicago?

haute cuisine

traditional cuisine

regional cuisine

global cuisine

8.What kind of sharpeners work a lot like motorized sharpeners because they have the same abrasive wheels that touch the blade when it is inserted in the slots, but they are done by hand so you have to put a little muscle behind the sweeping motion?

metal rod sharpeners

manual sharpeners

limestone sharpeners

whetstone sharpeners

9.If someone is infected with a virus, as long as they wear gloves, they pose no risk to others or the food they are preparing when working in the kitchen.

True

False

10.When you cut yourself while cooking in the kitchen, aside from making sure that you don't panic, what is the next step that you should take?

get yourself to the emergency room or call 911

dab on some antibacterial ointment and cover it with a bandage

apply direct pressure for up to five minutes using a clean cloth

rinse the cut with soap and cool water until clean

11.Pete works in a professional kitchen and is often required to lift heavy boxes of kitchen equipment or produce. He has learned that the best way to avoid injury is to lift with his what rather than his back?

hips

neck

legs

arms

12. 

Restaurant inventories do not include any non-food related things like linens, uniforms, bathroom supplies, liquor, and such.

True

False

13.When foods are kept in refrigerated storage, it is important that the shelves do not have any shelf lining because this can prevent what?

virus spread

creativity

air flow

bacteria growth

14.The result of dry cooking is softer, more tender food.

True

False

15.What kind of burns involve all layers of the skin, even down to the bone, and are considered a medical emergency that must be treated by getting to a hospital or calling 911?

second-degree burn

fourth-degree burn

third-degree burn

first-degree burn

16.Madeline was raised in the Jewish faith which in turn has an impact on the food that she eats. What foods does Madeline likely never eat because they are forbidden in the religious texts of Judaism?

pork or shellfish

nuts or berries

beef or crustaceans

grains or wheat

17.Cooking makes food edible, but it doesn't actually change the structure of the food itself.

True

False

18.As a metal, stainless steel contains a lot of chrome, which does not _____, meaning that it can be washed in hot water with any kind of mild soap.

dull

stain

burn

oxidize

19.The food-related practices of restaurants, schools, and even hospital cafeterias can be excellent indicators of how to do what for yourself and others while working in any kitchen?

endanger

protect

humor

entice

20.Even when food is not stored correctly (especially if its perishable) or not used within a certain amount of time, it can still usually be used safely.

True

False

21.The importance of food inventory is always financial.

True

False

22. 

Julia wants to cook some cauliflower in the oven using a dry cooking method. She would like to avoid adding any moisture to her cauliflower, and she wants to cook the cauliflower fast, meaning she probably needs to use a high-heat. What style of dry cooking would most likely be the best option for Julia?

panfrying

deep frying

roasting

baking

23.Finn has always cared a lot about the environment and tries to lead a very environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Rather than simply throwing away all of the food scraps that he produces, he prefers to turn these grimy, sloppy food scraps into rich, fertile soil. What is this process known as?

eliminating

composting

sanitation

recycling

24.Regardless of what cultural influences are at work, there are only two main ways to cook:

broil and bake.

high and low.

hot and cold.

wet and dry.